Mark Cuban just went through an lockout as owner of the Dallas Mavericks, so while the NHL might be in a different situation than the NBA, he still understands what needs to happen from a business perspective.
“I think they’re smart,” Cuban said of the NHL owners, according to CSNNE.com. “You got to fix the problem. I cringed like with what we did. But if you don’t fix the problems, they escalate, so they didn’t fix them the last time, and they should have. So you see where they are now.
“When you have all your southern franchises basically sucking wind, there’s a message there that you have to fix it,” Cuban continued. “I mean, you have two different worlds; the north and the south. It’s kind of like the civil war right now going on, and it’s got to be fixed. So, yeah I’d cringe more as a hockey fan. I’d cringe more if they don’t fix it. Just like the last one, it’s only been like seven years right? But I even wrote a blog back then that they should have fixed it, and they didn’t.”
The NBA just experienced its fourth lockout. Play eventually resumed on Christmas Day last year, but each team lost 26 games. The NHL has already canceled games through Dec. 30, and while the owners and the NHLPA continue to have discussions, hurdles still remain.
Cuban obviously isn’t sitting in on the NHL negotiations, but having been through a similar situation, he’s adamant that things need to be fixed now to avoid getting worse down the line.
“And if a market like the [Dallas] Stars can’t survive with whatever they do, they should be embarrassed, because this is your chance to fix this,” Cuban said.
So why hasn’t a deal gotten done? Cuban thinks it could have something to do with each side’s negotiation tactics.
“They’re both cluster[expletives]. There’s no good way [to negotiate] because everybody thinks they have a solution in those scenarios and nobody wants to listen to the other guy’s solutions,” Cuban reportedly said. “And it’s just when desperation sets in that something gets done. It’s not the best way to solve business problems, but that’s what ends up happening.”
Well, let’s hope everyone starts opening up their ears a little bit more. Maybe Mr. Cuban can pass along the good word.
